1859 U.S. Coast Survey Map or Nautical Chart of the Florida Keys and Key West

Description: A very attractive example of the rare 1859 U.S. Coast Survey Map the western Florida Keys. Centered on Key West, this map covers from Ramrod Key in the east to Boca Grande Key in the west. All of the Islands are named but only Key West shows any inland development. There are countless depth soundings throughout and various channels and shoals are noted. The triangulation for this chart was completed by J. E. Hilgard, Jas. Totten, J. Rockwell, and J. A. Sullivan. The topography is the work of R. M Bache, L. Hull Adams, C. T. Jardella, S. A. Wainwright, and T. W. Door. The hydrography was accomplished by John Rodgers and T. A. Craven. The whole was completed under the direction of A. D. Bache, one of the most influential and prolific Superintendents of the U.S. Coast Survey. Published in the 1859 edition of the Superintendentís Report to congress.

Date:
1859 (dated)

Source: Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, (Washington D.C.) 1859.

Cartographer:
The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The spirit of the Coast Survey was defined by its first two superintendents. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. These included using the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment as well as an unstinting attention to detail. Hassler's devised a labor intensive triangulation system whereby the entire coast was divided into a series of enormous triangles. These were intern subdivided into smaller triangulation units that were then individually surveyed. Employing this exacting technique on such a massive scale had never before been attempted. Consequently Hassler and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, twice loosing congressional funding for the Coast Survey. Nonethelss, Hassler lead the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress liberally fund the endeavor. Under the leadership of A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. Moreover, during his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was a steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS or USGS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Click here for a list of rare maps from the U. S. Coast Survey.